I recently took apart my plate chiller after over a year of operating a 10BBL brewhouse. Yes, it was disgusting, but I started wondering, how do other breweries clean theirs? How do they store them? Surprisingly, I could find no real thread dedicated to caring for these vital pieces in everyone's brewhouse. Ours is a 77 plate chiller that is a BEAR to clean. We soaked the whole thing in caustic, gaskets and all, then scrubbed the gunk off of them one at a time. Then, they went into an acid batch. Had a final scrub and rinse, and are about to be reassembled.
My question is, what is a good cleaning regiment? What should I pump through after each brewday? What special care should I give it?
I've heard (and done) so many things about this so please contribute! I've even heard brewers storing it in acid in between brewdays and things like that, I've even heard some brewers refuse to take it apart ever! Others still just run water in a backflush, which from empirical evidence, is definitely not doing much in our brewhouse.
Before I sacrifice a nice chiller to a stupid idea, I need info! Come on forumites! Don't let me down!
My question is, what is a good cleaning regiment? What should I pump through after each brewday? What special care should I give it?
I've heard (and done) so many things about this so please contribute! I've even heard brewers storing it in acid in between brewdays and things like that, I've even heard some brewers refuse to take it apart ever! Others still just run water in a backflush, which from empirical evidence, is definitely not doing much in our brewhouse.
Before I sacrifice a nice chiller to a stupid idea, I need info! Come on forumites! Don't let me down!
Comment